Lamar Alexander unveils heavyweight support

Sen. Lamar Alexander tried to tamp down speculation Saturday he could be primary mince meat when he announced the support of a bevy of Tennessee Republican heavyweights in support of his reelection bid in 2014.

Alexander announced that his co-chairs would be top statewide officials, Gov. Bill Haslam and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. In addition, he said, his campaign co-chairs will be the junior senator from Tennessee, Bob Corker, the state speaker Beth Harwell and U.S. Reps. Marsha Blackburn, Chuck Fleischmann, Diane Black, Stephen Fincher and Phil Roe. Rep. Jimmy Duncan Jr., a 13-term congressman, will chair Alexander’s campaign.

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The only member of the congressional delegation who is not a co-chair for Alexander’s campaign is Rep. Scott DesJarlais, the Republican who has been caught up in a messy sex scandal.

After deal-making Republican senators lost tea party-inspired challenges in the last two cycles, Alexander is showing he isn’t taking lightly the chance of a primary threat, particularly as he positions himself as a bipartisan-minded senator in the coming Congress. And now some of his potentially most formidable opponents are officially backing his candidacy.

If he does face a challenge from the right, Alexander will have the weight of the state political establishment on his side after quietly lining up its support.

“Lamar is a good Republican and good conservative who stands up for Tennesseans,” Duncan said in a statement. “We know and trust him to do what needs to be done.”

The Saturday announcements in Nashville and Knoxville also will quell speculation that the 72-year-old, two-term senator would call it quits after this term. After leaving his Senate leadership job last year, Alexander has positioned himself as a bipartisan deal-cutter, something that could cause angst on the right, particularly if he agrees to a fiscal deal with new taxes. Alexander has already been warning Tennessee voters that they probably won’t like whatever deal Congress can reach.

“We must fix the debt and move more decisions out of Washington,” Alexander, George H.W. Bush’s former education secretary and two-time presidential candidate, said in a Saturday statement. “It is time to stop making speeches and to start getting results.”